


The First Love and the Last

by OfMirthAndTears



Series: By the Moon's Light [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Study, Drabble, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 09:06:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8439703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfMirthAndTears/pseuds/OfMirthAndTears
Summary: Nymphadora Tonks could only help but muse as she considered the two men across the room. In fact, to much of the surprise of her sixteen year old self, the man she married was, in fact, the farthest thing away from Dominic Merricks that she could quite possibly get.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Remus character study from Tonks' POV for a story that I'm trying to get going. Probably going to turn into a series of one-shots, but hopefully it'll turn into something more multi-chaptered. 
> 
> Set Post-Deathly Hallows. Remus and Tonks survived, typical AU, etc etc.

It was the booming laugh that caught Tonks’ attention first, a startling guffaw that that cut through the Leaky Cauldron chatter. Her head whipped around anf both eyes instantly feell on the man behind the man. 

Gods, he hasn’t changed a bit. 

For Dominic Merricks, even at age 30, looked the same as he had at sixteen, staring Tonks down with a grin from his seat across her at the Hufflepuff table. Sure, he was taller, a little bit more filled out, and he finally had enough stubble to properly count as a beard, but he still looked like good ol’ Dom, the boy who kissed her behind Herbology gardens and made her knees shake. Same unruly copper hair, same black leather and destroyed denim fashion. He even wore the same pair of obsidian earrings. 

With a slight smile, Tonks considered him. Dominic Merricks was the type of man she thought she would marry; in fact, at the time of the relationships’ six month mark, she was quite convinced she would marry the man. The wedding would be loud and bursting with color and their friends would talk about it for years. 

But that wasn’t her wedding at all, Tonks mused. Her wedding had been a small affair, tucked away in a small bar in northern Scotland and their officiant had been a gruff old sailor who was quite unhappy to be taken away from his drink. The man she married was, in fact, the farthest thing away from Dominic Merricks that she could quite possibly get. 

Her eyes drifted back to her husband across the room. Remus was chatting animatedly with one of the other patrons - a former student she seemed to recall. What was his name? Dane? Dean? Don? She never could remember. But, a fond smile crept acorss her fact at the sight of Remus so happy, talking with a friend and one hand gently rubbing circles into his son’s - their son’s - back. 

At seven, Ted was beginning to look more and more like his father every day. Though he often morphed his hair to be a more manic color (this week was acid pop green) he had inhertied his father’s thin face and straight Greek nose, his slender frame and sharp amber eyes. He would grow into his vaulted cheekbones and full lips, the only indications he was a Black at all. Yes, Ted was a beautiful child, but she couldn’t help but wonder what might have happend had she and Dominic Merricks gotten married? 

Would he pick up their child after a fall and kiss his bruises into nothing? Would he bake a superb apple pie and wear a floral apron without a blush? We he shashay her across their living room to the tunes of Duke Ellington? 

No, she repriminded herself. For that was Remus. Dominic was brash and expressive and had, more than once, openly declared that he never wanted a child at all. 

Where Dominic was loud, Remus was quiet. When Dominic would offer her a variety of insults to hurl at people who annoyed her, Remus gave wry smile and a shoulder to lean into. Dominic took his tea with brandy, and Remus drank it with four cubes of sugar - more sugar than tea at all. 

Dominic had been a burst of energy, a shot to the veins to rile her mother and professors. If she wanted to take a jump into the Black Lake, she would not call her best friend Fendra, she would call Dominic. Because he would show up in his pants with a grin plastered on his face and Firewhiskey on his breath. 

Remus was a calming drought and a crackling fire all at once. She never knew what he was going to say; his sarcasm and wit seemingly had no end. He was a handy wand to have in a fight, and a welcome cup of tea to come home to. It was the sum of his parts, wolf and man, Marauder and professor, soldier and father, that made her fall in love with Remus Lupin all over again every day. The boyish cut of his fringe that Sirius had sworn had not been cut since he was thirteen, the twisting patchwork of scars that claimed his body and climbed over his face, his endless supply of soft pilled cardigans and sweaters. It was the walk he walked, a near prowling stalk that he offset with hands shoved deep into his pockets and a smile (close-mouthed, she now knew, to hid overly long canines.) He was protective of her and Ted, almost territorial. He was a typically calm man, and his anger showed with a dangerous whisper and a steely gaze. Cross him in the days preceding the moon, and fury exploded from him with eyes flashing gold and teeth bared in a snarl.

It was a fierceness, Tonks had decided years ago, that made her so attracted to the man. He threw himself into his work, his hobbies and his family with such a passion that Dominic Merricks never had and never would.

She looked at Dominic again, watching him pour drinks at the bar with ease. The man looked up and met her eyes, and for a moment there was deep confusion in his eyes, followed by recognication. A moment of silence between the two, and then he looked away again, back to his drinks and back to his patrons. On the other side of the room, Remus had scooped a sleepy Ted into his arms and was wishing his student a good night. He caught her eyes and flashed her a smile that warmed Tonks to her core. 

Indeed, her first and her last love couldn’t have been more different.


End file.
